


Change the Oil, Change the Rules

by Denois



Series: The Rules [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Adulting, Coming Out, Getting Together, M/M, Oil Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 17:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17027163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Being an adult is tough. Luckily, Hops has great teammates and friends that help him out. Like when his car's check oil light comes on and Dex offers to change it for him. Now he's faced with the realization that he's been breaking his own rules without even realizing it.





	Change the Oil, Change the Rules

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts:  
> Day 16  
> Hops/Dex  
> Pining  
> “What did you call me?”

Hops liked rules. Without rules, there was chaos. Which is why it frustrated him when Bitty changed the bylaws randomly and at whim. But Hops also had his own rules. A lot of them, actually. Like, don’t be afraid to ask for help when you don’t know something.

Which is how he got to this position to start with. Dex was laying under his car, stretched out on a flattened cardboard box to protect himself from the ground when he slid in and out from under it, and changing the oil. 

Which was fine. It was fine. He was fine. It’s just, sliding on cardboard and reaching around for tools had dragged Dex’s shirt up and his jeans down to his hips and now there was a small, but not insignificant, stretch of abdomen and hips on display. 

Hops could deal with this. He’d seen more of Dex’s bare skin in the locker room. They were teammates. But they weren’t in the locker room. Dex was under his car. Fixing it for him. He hadn’t even had to ask. He’d just mentioned the check oil light coming on at team breakfast and Dex had offered to take care of it for him. He was going to ask about a good shop in town that wouldn’t try to take advantage of him. 

But now here he was, watching William Poindexter slide out from under his car, grease smudged on his face and hands. And Hops was a gamer. He wasn’t supposed to find this attractive. But he’d heard Bully tell Nursey that Dex was cool because he could fix things and the thought had stuck with him. And Dex was a comp sci major, so he was probably a gamer too, of some sort at least. 

God, did they have things in common besides hockey? Hops had to stop himself before he got out of control. He started listing his rules in his head.

Don’t fall for a teammate. Don’t fall for an upperclassman. Don’t fall for a white boy. Don’t fall for someone your teammates already have a crush on. He was pretty sure that one applied for more than one of his teammates, actually.  
“And never ever fall for a straight boy.” The last rule came out in a mutter, but Dex was stretching, so he felt justified for not being able to keep his mouth shut entirely. 

At least he didn’t say the other things he was thinking.

“What did you call me?”

Hops stumbled back a step in shock that Dex had heard his muttering. “Um, a straight boy? Man, I mean. You’re an adult.”

Dex’s shoulders dropped and he rubbed a dirty hand over his face, smearing more grease around. “Nursey tell you that? How many times do I have to come out to this team? Fuck.”

Hops blinked. “You’re not straight?”

“I’m gay. I don’t know if I should be offended that this keeps happening, or glad that I can blame that for my flirting not working.”

Hops looked down and tried to gather his thoughts. Dex was gay. Dex wasn’t straight. Dex had been flirting with...someone. Dex assumed when Hops said to himself not to fall for a straight boy that Hops was referring to Dex. It was reasonable to believe that Dex had been flirting with Hops. 

He was weighing the other rules against asking Dex out when Dex spoke up. He was rubbing the back of his neck and not looking directly at Hops, but still. “Do you, maybe, want to get coffee? After I get cleaned up, of course.” 

Hops blinked again. As if Dex being dirty was a problem right now. All thoughts of the rules about dating teammates fled his brain. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Swawesome.”

Man, Dex had a nice smile.


End file.
